Aug 3rd Weeting Heath

Broad-leaved Helleborine

My Norfolk orchid hunt has taken me to all sorts of places across the county. From bogs to coastal dunes and from woodlands to meadows. Now, it is time to visit the Brecks and to Weeting Heath for my latest target. Broad-leaved helleborines are the commonest of the Epipactis helleborine family in the UK, but here in Norfolk they are a bit local with a few populations dotted here and there. The most reliable site to see them is here at Weeting. I wasn't able to spot them at first when we arrived to the reserve, but then a warden appeared and he showed me where exactly they were fairly quickly.

Broad-leaved helleborines are so called because they have the widest leaves out of the Epipactis family. Their flowers vary in colour from green to bright purple, though they are usually white, pink or soft purple. These orchids are found in woodlands and very shady spots. That is unless you live in Glasgow, where an unusual dense urban population can be found across the city. Here at Weeting, there weren't many that were in flower. Many of them had been eaten by slugs, but I was pleased that a handful had survived. Only 2 more orchids to go (not counting the two extinct ones)!



Eastern spiked speedwell (Veronica spicata ssp. spicate)

With the helleborines out of the way, the warden decided to take us to an area that is normally out of bounds to visitors to see a couple of special Breckland wildflowers. First, he showed us the Eastern spiked speedwell (Veronica spicata ssp. spicate), a really pretty and very rare plant in the UK that is mainly found in the Brecks. Then he showed us maiden's pink, another beautiful flower that's largely associated with this corner of East Anglia. I'm not really familiar with either, but it was nice of the warden to show them off to us all the same. As well as plants, we also saw yellowhammers, goldfinches, nuthatches, kestrels and buzzards.



Maiden's Pink